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Rami Shaaban
Personal information
Full name	Rami Shaaban
Date of birth	30 June 1975 (1975-06-30) (age 34)
Place of birth	Fisksätra, Sweden
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Hammarby
Number	1
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–1995 1995 1995–1996 1997–1999 2000–2002 2001 2002–2004 2004 2004–2005 2006–2008 2008–	Saltsjöbadens IK Al-Zamalek Ittihad Osman Nacka FF Djurgårdens IF → Värtans IK (loan) Arsenal → West Ham United (loan) Brighton & Hove Albion Fredrikstad Hammarby	39 (0) 04 (0) 05 (0) 48 (0) 40 (0) 02 (0) 03 (0) 00 (0) 06 (0) 32 (0) 21 (0)
National team2
2006–	Sweden	16 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 4, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 2, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Rami Shaaban (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrɑːmɪ ˈʃaːban]; Arabic: رامي شعبان‎; born 30 June 1975 in Fisksätra, Stockholm) is a Swedish professional football player. He currently plays as a goalkeeper for Hammarby IF. He is son of an Egyptian father and a Finnish mother.^[1] He has played for a number of teams in England, including Arsenal and also in Sweden. He is a Swedish National Team member.

Club career

Early career

Shaaban started his senior career at local club Saltsjöbadens IF, before moving to Cairo to play for Zamalek and Ittihad Osman, while also studying at the university. After a couple of years, Shaaban returned to his hometown and joined Nacka FF, a club based very close to where he grew up. After a string of impressive performances, he was asked to joined Swedish first division outfit Djurgården and, in August 2002 earned a move to Arsenal.

Arsenal

In August 2002, Shaaban joined Arsenal as a possible replacement for David Seaman. When Seaman was injured, he played in two matches in the UEFA Champions League at home against PSV Eindhoven^[2] and away against AS Roma as well three matches in the Premier League. Unfortunately, Shaaban broke his leg during training on Christmas Eve 2002 ultimately sidelining himself for the rest of the season.^[3] Due to the severity of his injury, Shaaban feared he wouldn't be able to play again. However, after rigorous physical therapy Shaaban was able to bounce back.^[4] When Seaman left Arsenal in the summer of 2003, Arsène Wenger signed Jens Lehmann who played every match that season as Arsenal went undefeated for the entire 2003-2004 English Premier League season. Shaaban was plagued by injuries and failed to become Arsenal first goal keeper. As a result, Shaaban was loaned out to West Ham United and consequently ending his Arsenal career.

Other clubs

In January 2004 Shaaban was loaned to West Ham United for a month, but did not make any appearances for the Hammers' first team. In February 2004, he signed for Brighton & Hove Albion on non-contract terms, making his debut in a 2-1 victory over Sunderland, and signed a short-term contract lasting until the end of the season just days later. After his contract expired at Brighton, he was released on a free transfer and had a trial at Dundee United, playing his only match as United beat Sheffield Wednesday to win the City of Discovery Cup; however, Shaaban could not agree terms and was snapped up by Fredrikstad F.K..

On 12 February 2008, Shaaban signed a five-year contract with Swedish team Hammarby IF.^[5]

International career

Shabaan was called up to the Sweden squad for the 2006 World Cup, although he did not have an international cap to his name. He made his debut in the warm up game with Finland as a substitute, coming on for 45 minutes and keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw. On June 10, 2006, he played in the 2006 World Cup contest against Trinidad and Tobago. He also played four games in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, in which he kept a vital clean sheet against Spain national football team, and was also a member of the nation's final stage squad. Shaaban had a possibility to choose Finland as his national side, but decided to represent Sweden because at that time Finland had many strong national team goalkeepers.

Honours

Club

Djurgårdens IF:

• Allsvenskan:

• Champion: 2002

• Svenska Cupen:

• Champion: 2002

Arsenal FC:

• Premier League:

• Champion: 2001-02, 2003-04
• Runners-up: 2002-03

• FA Cup:

• Champion: 2003-04

Fredrikstad FK:

• Norwegian Football Cup:

• Champion: 2006

Individual

• Swedish goalkeeper of the year: 2006, 2007

Personal life

Shaaban posing for editorial in Café Magazine, 2006.

Shaaban grew up in Solna, Stockholm with a Finnish mother and an Egyptian father. As a result, he has both Swedish and Egyptian citizenship. He was raised as a Muslim and consequently doesn't drink alcohol. In his late teens to early twenties, Shaaban lived in Cairo where he played football and attended university. Prior to joining Arsenal F.C. in 2002, he also worked as a mountains explosives specialist.^[6]

Shaaban has one son named Gabriel born circa 2002 with his ex-wife^[7] Several years after his divorce, he began dating a makeup artist named Frida.^[8] Although they aren't married, the two have a son Noah born in the August of 2008.^[9] Shaaban made a move to Hammarby partly to be close to his son Gabriel. He currently lives in a large lake house with his son and wife.^[9]

Reporters often credit Shaaban for remaining down-to-earth. Shaaban claims he has friends who are sheet metal workers to famous football players, one such football player is Fredrik Ljungberg.^[10] Ljungberg and Shaaban remain close after becoming friends whilst at Arsenal. The two are often seen drinking coffee together.^[11]

Shaaban is known for his love of coffee. He is often seen with a cup of coffee in his hand. He once said, "I dare not keep count of how many cups I drink per day. But mom is actually even worse."^[8]

References

External links

• Rami Shaaban career stats at Soccerbase
• Hammarby IF bio

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Sweden squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Isaksson • 2 Nilsson • 3 Mellberg • 4 Lucic • 5 Edman • 6 Linderoth • 7 Alexandersson • 8 A. Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Larsson • 12 Alvbåge • 13 Hansson • 14 Stenman • 15 K. Svensson • 16 Källström • 17 Elmander • 18 Jonson • 19 Andersson • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Rosenberg • 23 Shaaban • Coach: Lagerbäck

Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Isaksson • 2 Nilsson • 3 Mellberg • 4 Hansson • 5 Stoor • 6 Linderoth • 7 Alexandersson • 8 Svensson • 9 Ljungberg • 10 Ibrahimović • 11 Elmander • 12 Shaaban • 13 Wiland • 14 Majstorović • 15 Granqvist • 16 Källström • 17 H. Larsson • 18 S. Larsson • 19 Andersson • 20 Allbäck • 21 Wilhelmsson • 22 Rosenberg • 23 Dorsin • Coach: Lagerbäck